Light Without Sunlight | Santa & Cole

Spanish lighting company Santa & Cole created a retrospective exhibition titled Light without Sunlight to celebrate 30 years of the brand. The project was in collaboration with Pepi de Boisseu, a friend and frequent collaborator.

The menu was a study for the relationship between food and light. The installations included:

Flat bread totems inspired by Egyptian sun bread + furikake butter

Frisée garden. Frisée, a member of the chicory family, becomes bitter when exposed to excessive sunlight. The leaves of this endive variety are tied to protect the delicate heart from the harsh sun, giving the vegetable its distinct two tone color.

Potatoes dehydrated and cooked in salt and spinach + miso ash sauce + turmeric powder: When exposed to excessive sunlight potatoes have the tendency to turn green due to a substance known as solanine.

Boiled peanuts with soy + star anise. Contrary to popular belief, peanuts are not nuts, but legumes that require full sun exposure. The coarse shell protects the kernels from harsh weather conditions.

Baby artichoke, lemon, maldon. The tough outer leaves of the artichoke plant protect the delicate core from the intensity of the light, making the core tender and white. If the vegetable is not harvested, and continues to be exposed to sunlight, a beautiful purple flower blooms.

Hanging brussels sprouts. The best quality sprouts are grown on sunny days but with light frost at night. The balance between day and night removes bitterness from the sprout.

Couscous dune. Although sunlight is essential for all crops, water is equally as crucial. In sandy desert climates, while there is excessive sun, water is limited, thus very few crops are able to flourish.

Marine sponge cake. In the depth of the ocean, marine sponges transmit light and can harbor photosynthetically active microorganisms in deeper tissue regions. Sponges are able to transduce light inside their bodies by employing amorphous siliceous structures.